This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare
your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is
the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every
paragraph has one and only one subject.

First paragraph

Second paragraph

Third paragraph, etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

A. The Jewish Study Bible (pp. 839-840) outlines the chapter as three separate and independent poems.

1. Isa. 29:1-8 (starts with "woe")

2. Isa. 29:9-12

3. Isa. 29:15-24 (starts with "woe")

B. YHWH's surprising reversal of His people's problems is a recurrent theme.

1. Isa. 3:25-5:6

2. Isa. 8:6-8

3. Isa. 8:22-9:1

C. The historical setting of this chapter seems to be Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in 701 b.c. Jerusalem is spared (Isaiah's theology), but Judah is devastated.

1. Isaiah 36-39

2. 2 Kings 18-19

3. 2 Chr. 32

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:1-41Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped!Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.2I will bring distress to Ariel,And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning;And she will be like an Ariel to me.3I will camp against you encircling you,And I will set siegeworks against you,And I will raise up battle towers against you.4Then you will be brought low;From the earth you will speak,And from the dust where you are prostrateYour words will come.Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,And your speech will whisper from the dust.

29:1 "Woe" See note at Isa. 5:8.

▣ "Ariel" (Isa. 29:1,2,7) This term can mean

heroes, cf. 2 Sam. 23:20; 1 Chr. 11:22 (BDB 72 I, #3)

"lion of God" (BDB 72 I #1)

"hearth of God" (BDB 72 II)

Because it is used in the sense of altar-hearth in Isa. 29:2, which follows Ezek. 43:15-16, I
believe this refers to the hearth of God, which can be seen clearly in Isa. 31:9. Because of Isa. 29:7, it
is obvious that this is an allusion to Jerusalem (JPSOA footnote, cf. Isa. 33:7). The first strophe
(i.e., Isa. 29:1-4) deals with the capital of Judah, Jerusalem, as 28:1-4 dealt with the capital of the
Northern Ten Tribes, Samaria.

▣ "Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule" This second line of Isa. 29:1
reinforces the view that Isa. 29:1-4 refer to Jerusalem, the place of Israel's feasts (cf. Exodus 23;
Deuteronomy 16).

add, BDB 414, KB 418, Qalimperative

observe, BDB 668, KB 722, Qalimperfect used in
a jussive sense

29:2-3 These verses describe what YHWH will do to His own chosen city (i.e., Jerusalem, the place
where He caused His name to dwell, cf. Deut. 12:5,11,21; 14:23,24; 16:2,6,11; 26:2).

This context is not dealing with necromancy, as Deut. 18:9-12,14 is, but metaphorical language
to describe Jerusalem, on the brink of total destruction, crying out to her God in a weak voice while
lying on the ground just before death.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:5-85But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;And it will happen instantly, suddenly.6From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.7And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.8It will be as when a hungry man dreams-And behold, he is eating;But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,Or as when a thirsty man dreams-And behold, he is drinking,But when he awakens, behold, he is faintAnd his thirst is not quenched.Thus the multitude of all the nations will beWho wage war against Mount Zion.

29:5-6 What a radical reversal these two verses are in the context. God has promised to judge Jerusalem
and now promises to save Jerusalem from the enemy siege of Isaiah 36-37. In Isa. 29:6, there is a use of a
storm metaphor to describe God. This is a recurrent theme throughout the Prophets. An even stronger use of
this metaphor can be found in Isa. 30:27-33.

Notice what YHWH (i.e., Lord of hosts, Isa. 29:6) will do to the
invaders.

These describe the coming/visitation of YHWH for judgment (cf. Isa. 28:2). These types of
violent metaphors were the beginning source of apocalyptic language.

29:5

NASB, NJB, REB

"enemies"

NKJV, NRSV

"foes"

NASB, NRSV (footnote), JPSOA

"strangers"

TEV

"foreigners"

Peshitta

"oppressors"

DSS

"haughty men"

The MT has "of your strangers" (זריך, BDB 266,
KB 267, Qalactive participle), but there is a possibility
of an "R" (ר) - "D" (ד) confusion. The Hebrew of "of your enemies" (זדוך)
is from the Targums. The UBD Text Project, p. 65, gives the MT a "C" rating (considerable doubt).

29:7-8 This is the use of the metaphor of a nightmare (lit. "dream," BDB 321; "a vision of the night,"
BDB 302 construct 538) to describe the results of God's action both in Judah
and to Assyria. In Isa. 29:7, Assyria's siege will be like a nightmare that passes Judah, but in
Isa. 29:8 the nightmare will occur to the army of Assyria (cf. 2 Kgs. 19:35-37; 2 Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36-37).

29:7

NASB, NRSV

"her stronghold"

NKJV

"her fortress"

NJB

"besieging"

REB, JPSOA

"siege-works"

The difference between these two options is the "R" and "D" confusion.

stronghold, BDB 845 II, ומצדתה

siege, BDB 849, ומצרתה

The UBS Hebrew Text Project gives #1 a "C" rating (considerable doubt), but notice that the text
could refer to

the enemies' siege-works against Jerusalem

Jerusalem's defensive bulwarks

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:9-129Be delayed and wait,Blind yourselves and be blind;They become drunk, but not with wine,They stagger, but not with strong drink.10For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,He has shut your eyes, the prophets;And He has covered your heads, the seers.11The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed." 12Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, "Please read this." And he will say, "I cannot read."

29:9 "Be delayed and wait,

Blind yourselves and be blind" The first two poetic lines of this verse have
four imperatives.

be delayed, BDB 554, KB 552, Hithpalpelimperative,
masculine plural. This could have a different root, BDB 1069, KB 1744, Qalimperative; see Hab. 1:5. This would be a similar word play to the second line

Verse 10 is quoted by Paul in his discussion of Israel's failure to believe/trust in Jesus as
Israel's Messiah in Rom. 11:8.

29:11 "sealed" This verbal (BDB 367, KB 364, Qalpassive participle) is also used by Isaiah in Isa. 8:16, where it
refers to a revelatory scroll written by the prophet at God's direction. The "sealing" referred to a way of

indicating ownership

assuring security

This was accomplished by

blob of wax (or clay) on the rolled up edge with a signet ring of the sender impressed in it

two blobs of wax (or clay) with a string between them and both impressed with the sender's ring or symbol

As Isaiah was told to seal up the message in Isa. 8:16, so too, Daniel in Dan. 12:4. However,
in Isa. 29:11 it is simply a metaphor for the ceasing of God's revelation.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:13-1413Then the Lord said,"Because this people draw near with their wordsAnd honor Me with their lip service,But they remove their hearts far from Me,And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,14Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."

29:13 "draw near with their words" This term (BDB 620, KB 670, Niphalperfect) speaks of public acts of worship in the temple. It was originally
used of priests (i.e., Exod. 19:22).

▣ "their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote" This is a significant
theological truth which shows that ritual and liturgy, without personal relationship, accompanied by
lifestyle, love, and morality, are an abomination to God (cf. Isa. 1:10-15; 58:1-5; Jeremiah 7;
Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Matt. 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23; Col. 2:16-23; 2 Tim. 3:5). The ritual was not
wrong, it was the person's attitude that attempted to manipulate God.

The above line of poetry is parallel to the next, "honor Me with their lip service"
(cf. Jer. 12:2). They say one thing, but live another (cf. Matt. 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7, where "words"
and "lip" are described as "neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men,"
illustrated in Mark 7:3,5,9,13).

29:14 "I will once again deal marvelously. . .wondrously marvelous" In English these phrases sound
good, but they are the Hiphilinfinitive construct;
the Hiphilinfinitive absolute; and the noun
all of the same root (BDB 810; see
Special Topic: Wonderful
Things), which denotes

extraordinary plagues in Exod. 3:20; Deut. 28:59

extraordinary counsel in Isa. 9:6; 28:29

wonderful acts in Exod. 34:10; 1 Chr. 16:9,12,24; Isa. 25:1

Context must determine if it is positive or negative. Here it is negative of YHWH's judgment on
His own people. This judgment will be that their wise counselors and religious leaders will fail to do
their job (cf. Isa. 29:9-12).

Paul quotes this verse in 1 Cor. 1:19 in his discussion of the foolishness of human wisdom,
especially as it deals with understanding why the Messiah had to suffer and die (i.e., the gospel).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:15-1615Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord,And whose deeds are done in a dark place,And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"16You turn things around!Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,That what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me";Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

29:15 "hide their plans from the Lord" This refers to Judah's leadership's plan for a political alliance
with Egypt (cf. Isa. 28:7-22; 30:1-5; 31:1-3) to protect them from Assyria. They are trusting in Egypt, not YHWH!

▣ "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us" This is basically a denial of God's personal presence. Verse 16
expresses the logic and foolishness of these statements.

29:16 "the potter" God as potter is a common biblical metaphor (cf. Isa. 45:9; 64:8; Jer. 18:4ff;
Job 10:9). It possibly developed from the initial creation of humanity in Gen. 2:7. Paul alludes to this
text in Rom. 9:20. Romans 9 is the affirmation of the complete and total sovereignty of God!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:17-2117Is it not yet just a little whileBefore Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?18On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.19The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord,And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.20For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;21Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

Lebanon will become very fertile, Isa. 29:17b,c, cf. Isa. 32:15; 35:1-2 (the NASB Study Bible, p. 996,
links this to Isa. 10:34 and asserts that Lebanon might be a way of referring to Assyria). Sennacherib
bragged of his exploitation of Lebanon's forest (cf. Isa. 37:24; 2 Kgs. 19:23).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: ISAIAH 29:22-2422Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:"Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;23But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,They will sanctify My name;Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of JacobAnd will stand in awe of the God of Israel.24Those who err in mind will know the truth,And those who criticize will accept instruction.

29:22-24 As Isa. 29:5-8 break into the context of judgment on Jerusalem with a word of hope, so too,
Isa. 29:22-24. This rapid contrast between judgment oracles and promise oracles is characteristic of the
Prophets. Judgment is always for the purpose of restoration!

Yes, God will judge His people when they sin and break His covenant, but He has a greater
purpose for them (i.e., an eternal redemptive plan for all humanity).

Notice the different phrases and titles that denote the covenant Deity.

the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, Isa. 29:22

his children, the work of My hands, Isa. 29:23

My name. . .the Holy One of Jacob, Isa. 29:23

the God of Israel, Isa. 29:23, cf. Isa. 1:4

29:22 The chosen family of Abraham developed into the tribes of Jacob's sons. YHWH promises a day
when, by His power and covenant presence, they

shall not be ashamed, BDB 101, KB 116, Qalimperfect, used
often in the Psalms, Isaiah, and Jeremiah

YHWH is called "the Redeemer of Israel" (cf. Isa. 41:14; 43:14; 48:17; 49:7,26; 54:5,8). That
concept of YHWH as the special redeemer of a chosen family may be the theological thrust of Isa. 29:22-23.

29:24 This verse is the opposite of Isa. 29:9-12,14. Revelation and understanding shall return
to God's people through His called leadership, both civil and religious! This is a lifting of the
blindness and deafness of Isa. 6:9-10!!